China's role positive in efforts to resume N. Korea nuclear talks: Seoul official

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Yonhap) -- A flurry of diplomatic activity on North Korea bodes
well for the fate of the troubled six-way talks on the communist state's nuclear
program, a senior South Korean government official said Tuesday.
The North's top nuclear envoy Kim Kye-gwan arrived in Beijing Tuesday as Wang
Jiarui, a top Chinese Community Party official in charge of international
affairs, wrapped up his trip to Pyongyang.
In a meeting with Wang, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il reportedly reiterated
Pyongyang's commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, although no
further details were disclosed.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon's top political adviser Lynn Pascoe was also due in
Pyongyang later Tuesday.
"Those brisk diplomatic efforts are a positive sign in efforts to bring North
Korea back to the six-party talks," the official told Yonhap News Agency,
requesting anonymity.
He added that the nuclear talks may be resumed at an early date, given the pace
of diplomatic efforts.
"It is hard to expect when the six-way talks will be resumed but it is clear that
a positive mood is being created," he said.
The official said South Korea has no plan yet to send its own special envoy to
Pyongyang, however.
"We will first need to monitor the development of diplomatic efforts by China and
other related parties," he said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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